Chiang Freaking Mai
Chiang Mai was possibly my favourite place in Thailand. Chiang Mai is just North of Bangkok and it is incredibly easy to get to. We only spent three weeks travelling around Thailand, most people have way more time than that but we had to make everything as time efficient as possible. After a night in Bangkok we flew to Chiang Mai. The flight was only 1 hour 15 mins and cost us around £24 each via skyscanner. Everything in Thailand is insanely cheap, including flying around there and as we needed to cut down as much time using transport as possible we decided flying was our best option. Most travellers use sleeper trains which is the cheapest form of transport. I had read gross things about these sleeper trains but actually two guys we met in Pai used them and took videos on there and they looked really comfortable.
It is so easy to get around Thailand in fact that we actually booked our flights at 9pm the night before and then flew at 10am the next day. We asked our lovely hosts at Here Hostel in Bangkok to arrange a taxi to Don Muang airport and they happily did it for us, everyone is so willing in Thailand that you will ALWAYS find a way of making things work. We found it so funny that we turned up at the airport panicking that we would need documents etc for us to just hand our passports in at the check in counter and have everything sorted within minutes.
We arrived at Chiang Mai airport and as soon as we walked out of the exit we found tons of taxis ready to take us to our hotel. We found a hotel called the Royal Penninsula on booking.com (BEST website to use for travelling) and the hotel was £16 each for 4 nights with breakfast included, the rooms were cleaned daily with fresh towels, we had access to the pool, buffet breakfasts and a lovely lady known as Boo at the front desk on hand to help us book excursions.
If you're doing it for the Gram you will for sure find the best picture spots in Chiang Mai.
Here are some of the things we did whilst here;
Elephant Mountain Sanctuary
There are soooo many elephant sanctuaries for travellers to visit. We opted for a no riding excursion as we wanted to go somewhere where the animals are treated with absolute care. We found the Elephant Mountain Sanctuary. We spent the day learning about the elephants, washing them, giving them mudbaths, taking them on a 6KM jungle trek, feeding them, making their food, etc. It was such an incredible day and if I could suggest one thing that people HAVE to do in Thailand it is going to visit these beautiful animals, it is honestly the craziest thing being so close to them.
Doi Suthep
Doi Suthep is another absolute MUST in Chiang Mai. It is one of the most sacred temples in Thailand. There are so many different temples to visit in Thailand, small and large and although neither of us are religious we found the temples to be the most peaceful and calming of places especially Doi Suthep. There are so many 'busses' also known as Songthaews (pick up style trucks with two benches inside) all over Chiang Mai offering to take people to the temples/main excursion places. The people that drive you will also give you an hour and 15 minutes to go to the temple whilst they wait for you and they will then return you to the pick up spot. To get to Doi Suthep you have to climb 309 steps which is seen as the stairway to heaven, here you will find the most incredible architecture and the most beautiful views of Chiang Mai. You will spend your time there in awe, trust me.
The salad concept
Okay people. Hear. Me.Out. Yes, we were backpacking around and trying not to blow all our money at once (I only spent £600 in 3 weeks and that is actually a lot to them) but I am also the biggest foodie. I just love food. The food in Thailand was incredible but we had days where our stomachs felt off whether that was from the spice or the way things were prepared etc. Lets not forget Thailand is a second world country so although cooking is a huge deal to them, food hygiene teams would have a field day out there. Amongst all of the amazing Thai restaurants, street food stalls and cafes, you will also find lots of Western restaurants and cafes, we found quite a few places that used the ideas of Australian cafes and this was one of them. If you want a health food stop, this should be your go to. They had the most incredible salad building options, breakfasts, smoothies, coffee, etc. I had the peanut butter & banana smoothie and the eggs royale which was incredible, to match their name they put salads with everything, mine came with grilled vegetables and salad and it was so refreshing to eat something that wasn't foreign for the odd meal. I was being a basic bitch...for one day. Promise.
Siam Garden Cooking School
Another MUST in Thailand (okay, i will say everything about a billion times because I just loved it there SO much) but for reals. There are so many cooking schools there and we just had the best time there. Our instructor was called Cam, I don't know whether it was his knowledge, his camp approach to life, his impersonation of the sassy guy that sprinkles the salt, his hilarious jokes or all of the above but he absolutely made this excursion for me. I honestly wish everyone knew about him because he was amazing! Thai food is actually so quick and easy to make once you prep your ingredients and we had so much fun making and eating everything. We made glass spring rolls, normal spring rolls, pad thai, prawn & coconut milk soup, cashew nut chicken, deep fried banana, sticky rice with mango and so much more. They set out the cutest area for everyone to sit together on comfy cushions in a space overlooking the garden, we did the evening course so it was sunset whilst we all ate together and shared our travel stories.
Art in Paradise
We returned to Chiang Mai for a night following Pai before flying to the South and we visited this amazing art gallery. You defo have to visit here, the artwork is so quirky and cool there. It isn't far from the centre of Chiang Mai and it is totally worth the walk regardless.
Chiang Mai is bursting with life, the streets are bustling with night markets, street food, quirky cafes, tuk tuks (BEST way to travel around) and the most wonderful people. I honestly loved it there and I would recommend Chiang Mai to anyone and everyone.
Thanks for reading! H x
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